Noncitizens may be unaware of how the U.S. legal system operates, and may thus need to learn basic information and to receive assurances that their counsel are dedicated to serving their interests, and will not betray them to the INS, the police, or the courts.  Counsel should take pains to convince the client that counsel will protect the client’s confidences, and will not reveal information without the client’s consent.  It may be more difficult than usual to establish the trust necessary to allow the client to be completely open, and thus reveal all necessary information to the attorney.

 

            Many noncitizens endured extreme trauma in their home countries.  Many immigrants leave their country because they are forced to do so.  Many clients have survived extreme poverty or, in areas of war or human rights abuses, the deaths or assassinations of family members or friends, sightings of dead bodies in the street, fear of attack by government, death squad or guerrilla forces, forced relocation, and the stress caused by such events.  Refugee camps in Central America and Asia can be frightening places subject to military attack and inadequate food supply.  Studies have shown that a large percent of immigrants — even those not coming from areas of war — suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome; immigration itself is a traumatic event.  Often people do not want to discuss events in the home country, but you should assume, for example, that any person from El Salvador or Guatemala — like any veteran of the Vietnam War — has experienced trauma.

 

            The client may be anxious about his or her immigration status.  S/he may expect government forces to arrest and detain them and their family and force them to return to the home country (this in fact may happen).  Some immigrants are adept at crossing the Mexican border.  Many others may have made the journey only once and suffered robbery, rape, and official shakedowns along the way, and fear what would happen to them in the home country if deported.  Some are facing separation from their family if deported.

 

            The client may not understand the most basic facts about the criminal process.  Noncitizens may be much less streetwise than other relatively inexperienced defendants.  The judicial system in their home country may be different.  They may view all government authority and employees with fear.  It may not be clear that the criminal system is different from the federal immigration system.  It can be very helpful for counsel to read about the judicial system in the client’s country of origin to learn what the client’s expectations are.[1]

[1] See generally J. Connell & R. Valladares, eds., Cultural Issues In Criminal Defense (Juris Publishing 2000); J. Moore, editor, Immigrants In Courts  (Univ. of Washington Press 1999).  See also Bibliography, “Cultural Influences,” at http://CriminalAndImmigrationLaw.com for more specific references to resources concerning Muslim law, Russian law, and the like.

Other

BIBLIOGRAPHY
L. FRIEDMAN RAMIREZ, ED., CULTURAL ISSUES IN CRIMINAL DEFENSE (2d ed. 2007).

CRIMINAL DEFENSE - INVESTIGATION
A. Renteln, Raising Cultural Defenses, in L. FRIEDMAN RAMIREZ, ED., CULTURAL ISSUES IN CRIMINAL DEFENSE 423 (2d ed. 2007).

CRIMINAL DEFENSE - INVESTIGATION
J. Connell, Using Cultural Experts, in L. FRIEDMAN RAMIREZ, ED., CULTURAL ISSUES IN CRIMINAL DEFENSE 467 (2d ed. 2007).